The Art of Madess
by ElviraMoore
Summary: It's been years since Alice has left Underland and a lot has happened, including the birth of a child out of wedlock. Her daughter is inherently like her mother, A tenacious, adventurous, slightly odd girl, with desires to match! M in later chapter
1. Alice Anne Ascot

_I recently watched Tim Burtons __  
__Alice in Wonderland and sort of fell for Johnny Depps adaptation of the Mad Hatter and have been considering writing a short series. I'm not entirely sure if I want to but I figure I'll post the first part and see what kind of a reaction I get.__  
__This first part will be a bit boring but it gives a solid background and character description, bare through it, message me or rate the story and tell me what you think. If the feedback is good I'll continue it.__  
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Tightly curled strands of platinum blond hair hung loosely over the creamy white exposed shoulders of Alice Anne Ascot as she exhaustively listened to her grandmothers gossip about the towns folk.  
"You should have seen! Dear, such public display's of affection! Scandal has seemed to have become a fashion! Oh, Nerve just like your Mothers, I do swear. You though, sweet granddaughter will not be one of these… 'modern' women. You are a classy lady, aren't you?"  
Nana Ascot (As her grandmother preferred) rambled on daily like this, especially about dear Alice Anne's mother, Alice Kingsley, for whom she had a fine distaste. Some 19 years back on a night of drunken passion and lust was Alice Anne conceived. Alice had returned home from a business venture to Hong Kong, and had dinner with the Ascots. One glass of wine turned in to six and one thing led to the next, soon Alice had engaged into a rather unsatisfying night of throes with Lord Hamish Ascot, her one time suitor.  
When her pregnancy was discovered Hamish begged and pleaded for marriage, which Alice denied. Alice explained that she would raise her unborn daughter alone, and that she would live the life of three queens and experience adventures most only read about in books.  
Lady Ascot promised legal trouble for Alice if the child wasn't left in her care. It was quite a feud,only after long hours of understanding negotiation did her business partner, Mr. Ascot come to an agreement between them. The child would be split under joint custody, half a year with her mother and the other half with her father on the estate.  
Her mother certainly was a 'modern' woman. Almost by definition, and like she had promised, Alice's daughter always had great adventures. She learned valuable business trades, saw the latest fashions in Paris and giggled at argumentative Italians over dinner.  
Life on the estate, however, was different. Being a child born out of wedlock was unpopular in a town of tradition and her grandmother was constantly trying to over compensate for that fact, buying expensive clothes for Alice, etiquette classes, and arranging weekly gentlemen callers from the sons of business men and court officials. Truth be told, though Alice had the wild and tenacious blood of her mother, and she didn't fall well under tradition. She was a fiery, passionate girl who loved to write short prose of a land called 'Wonderland' a place her mother often told her of, and had a penchant for brightly colored garments.  
Nana Ascot especially disliked these traits in Alice because they reminded her so of Alice's mother,her Granddaughters first name often times bothered her too.  
After another hour of empty conversation with her Grandmother, Alice became restless and miserably bored.  
"Excuse me Nana, But it's terribly muggy in here. I do think I'll go for a walk in the garden. The breeze is nice today"  
Her Grandmother nodded forcibly. Alice stood to leave, but before she could her grandmother grabbed her hand aggressively, and after realizing that she'd done so, stroked it.  
"Alice, dear. Before you go trampling outside do go see your father. Hes something to tell you."

Alice nodded and wandered down the hall toward her fathers study. She was glad to be rid of her Grandmothers ramblings but honestly did long to stroll in the gardens, she was always happy wandering the labyrinth and some nights when she was restless she'd go walking about it.  
She arrived at her fathers study. Hamish was a considerably lame man these days, his right knee had been injured in a hunting accident and since then he had an awful limp. He was lame in his mannerism's, too. It was quite obvious his undying love for Alice's mother. And upon the realization he could never have her, he spent most of his time speaking unexcited of the weather, or watching birds,and had since dropped all formalities and loyalty to tradition. He did, however love his daughter and his daughter loved him too, although they never had much to speak about.  
"Father" She said opening the door quietly.  
"What? Oh yes, come in darling" He looked up from a stack of property taxes he'd been correcting.  
"Nana said you wanted a word?"  
"Oh yes dear. Your mother sent a letter for your Birthday" He picked it up off the desk, stared momentarily at it and then extended it out to her.  
"Oh!" Alice excited opened it. The letter explained Alice's pride and joy of her Daughters upcoming 18th birthday and promised a special gift when Alice would be sent out for her mother.  
next month.  
"So much time has passed, it's incredible. Our daughters finally become a woman" Hamish spoke almost to himself while Alice finished the letter.  
"You look so like your mother, now all we need to do is find a worthy man." He put his focus away from the paper work and on his daughter.  
"Do you have any ideas of who you might want that to be?"  
Alice shook her head.  
"Not a single idea…. Not here at least, I was thinking maybe a Frenchman" She Smiled and her father laughed quietly with her.  
"And why a Frenchman?"  
Alice Anne pondered the thought for a second then replied.  
"Well, The french are wonderfully adventurous and spontaneous...I've also heard that they're madly passionate about love and romantic sorts of things..."

"You've got her sense of adventure too... You know? Not all French are mad men, and not all mad men are french"  
"I didn't say I wanted a mad man father... Just madly in love" she said a little defensively  
He laughed "Yes well, trust me. Love is mad whether or not its with a Frenchman. But I'm sure you'll learn that one day."  
He focused his attention back to his paper work.  
"Just don't speak to your grandmother about any Frenchmen"  
He smiled and began making further scratches on the paper with his pen.  
Alice took this as being dismissed and made her way down to hall towards the Gardens, making sure to tip toe around Den where her Grandmother sat reading.  
She had finally found her freedom outside, and as she began to explore the garden.


	2. Return to Underland

_Well I've decided to continue anyway, I really do like the plot and i'm having fun with the Characters. Messages and comments are still very well appreceiated though. Thanks guys!__  
_  
The gardens were as temperate and calming as always and once inside Alice began to let her guards down and relax. For the first time all day Alice had time to think, when surrounded by all the high tensions and expectations her Grandmother put on her, it was hardly ever possible to have any thoughts besides "How's my posture? Is my dress wrinkled? I hope Nana doesn't find out…".

But in the gardens she was free to drag her feet, spit, slouch her back but most of all, relax. And when she was relaxed her mind was free to wander. At this very moment she began to think of her parents.

"Poor father, so alone in his study every day"

She often felt sympathetic with her father's loneliness.

"I do wish he'd get a dog for company"

She thought of him, staring out a window all day or filling out tax papers and how absolutely drone and bland that must be compared to her mothers life spent on ships and expensive restaurants. She recalled her mother often in this manner.

She imagined her calling for the waiter in some fine French eatery.

"Garcon, Pardon? Foie gras, si'l vous plait"

Alice thought now how she wanted to be like her mother,  
"Ah! living the wild life of a business woman, traveling the world, seeing great things… All… Alone…"

Her mother had always been so busy and lively that Alice Anne never really realized that she'd not once seen her mother with a man.

"This may be as a courtesy to me… Not bringing a man around when I'm about" Alice Anne doubtedly thought.

"No… I can tell she been by herself for sometime… She's considered an old maid now, and besides I can tell the way she looks at married women or young couples courting, envious and bereaved… She is loveless"

All of a sudden a great, heavy sadness overcame Alice, she stopped walking and stared at the ground in a sorrow for her mothers loveless life.

"Its an awful shame about my mother… I wonder if she ever love a man?" The pang in her heart struck heavier.

"Oh poor, poor, mother. I do wish she could find love in her life"

Alice thought then of herself.

"And what about a husband for me? I would hate it awfully so to be afflicted such as my parents"

She began walking nervously ahead, a thousands concerns of love and marriage shrouded her mind.

"What is I never find my madly passionate Frenchman? Suppose I grow old and lonely like my mother… Oh tragedy becomes me!"

In her dramatic spiel she hardly noticed a sold ticking sound.

"I don't want to be alone, nor do I want a hapless marriage. Oh! Life is tirelessly impossible"

The ticking became a little bit louder.

"Is it so much a crime to want… Wait."

She paused, finally hearing the ticking.

"Odd…. Sounds like... A ticking clock… like a pocket watch."

Being the curios and adventurous girl she was she began following it. The sound led her around turn after turn, growing louder and louder and it felt almost as it were her own heart beating. It began ticking faster and louder until she turned the last corner. It stopped.

In front of her was a simple London Plane tree.

"Even stranger, I've never noticed a tree in the garden.

She walked towards it and upon discovering a rabbit hole did the ticking faintly return.

She knelt down closer to the rabbit hole looking for the culprit and for s split second saw a metallic glint of lightthat looked much like a watch.

"Aha!" She pronounced thrusting her hand into the hole only to find no watch at all, but an endless cavern.

Loosing her grip she fell through and within the time of a gasp and a yelp there was not even a ray of light trickling through the hole in which she fell from her garden, instead was a whirling endless hole into witch she fell further. The ticking again returned but this time as loud and penetrating as the ever.

Impossible things flew past her as she fell, a piano suspended in this air, pots, pans, music books, and a bed among other things.

She let out one last yelp as she crashed through a ceiling onto a hard, hard floor.

She sat up slowly, struggling to get her breath back when she suddenly fell again. Once she was plopped on the floor a second time she looked up, realizing that the ground she laid on just seconds ago, was now above her.

"Curiouser and couriouser" She muttered quietly.

She stood up, finally, dusting of her dress, which was covered in dust. She scanned the room to see many dust covered doors, in rotation she visited each one discovering they were locked. Getting quite dirty and frustrated she turned around and noticed a glass table covered in a blanket of dust, with one dust old key and one dusty old bottle, a cobweb connected them.

She walked to it, picked up the key and studied it, she then focused herself on the bottle. After wiping it off she noticed an inscription;

DRINK ME

A thought dawned on her.

"Drink Me? Like the bottle from mothers story?... Impossible…"

She uncorked the bottle. Inside there was hardly a drop left. And after a second of debating whether or not she'd gone mad, she decided to drink it.

"I don't know what else of a choice I have"

She tilted the bottle back and waited for the last few drops to leak onto her tongue, and upon doing so, it stung terribly, Alice began a coughing fit.

The taste and the burn bothered her so much that she hardly noticed herself shrinking down in size until her dress was like a tent.

She tunneled her way out of her own dress. When she emerged she found herself naked and venerable in a giant coliseum, that was, just moments ago a dusty crowded room. After fashioning some sorry excuse for a dress with a piece of lace from her dress, She searched about the room looking for a small door, she figured if there were drinks described to her in a fairy tale in this room, the door her mother described might be there as well.

Lo and behold she found it! A small door just her size that was, like everything else in the room covered with a film of dust, unlike everything else in the room, the door was left slightly ajar.

As she pushed through it she thought;

"Strange, I thought it would have been locked."

On the other side of the door was a shocking view, enormous brown and grey mushrooms and trees sprouted up everywhere and above her was an appropriately matching, empty, grey sky. The whole place seemed to be suspended in time.

"Is this the 'wonder' land my mother so often told me of? It's hardly a wonder…"

She approached a tree, ran a finger down it and again,

"Dust… Dust! Dust! Dust! What is the matter with this place!"

Irritated and utterly confused Alice Anne treaded onward looking for something, or anything that could give her the slightest bit of clarity on the situation.

She found herself pushing through a grey, dusty flower garden, sneezing all way and didn't notice any of the faces on the flowers until one snorted upon being pushed out of Alices way.

Startled, Alice yelped, looking up at the waking face of the daffodil.

"Wha. What? Oh, my what a nice nap." The flower stretched her petals and yawned groggily, and began dusting herself of a bit.

"I say, who was it who awoke me" the flower looked down at Alice, rubbering her eyes trying to adjust them.

"Was it you girl? Who are you, anyway?"

Alice stuttered "Uh… Alice, M'lady…"

The Daffodils eye's widened at the name and she shouted out.

"Alice!"

Waking some of the other flowers.

The Daffodil looked closely at Alice Anne, and Alice began to hear the other flowers sleepily utter;

"What… Alice? Did I hear Alice?"

"Yes Ma'm… Alice"

The Daffodil speculated each of her features and fine announced.

"Not quite… You're not Alice.

"Oh! But I am." Alice retorted back.

"You may be _an_ Alice, but your not _the_ Alice, girl."

The flowers (Most of which were now awake and stretching themselves out) let out a dull moan if disappointment.

"The Alice?" Alice Anne muttered under her breath and then realized that they must be speaking of her mother.

"Oh! Yes, you must be talking about my mother. Alice Kingsley… She'd tell me stories of Wonderland before I went to sleep as a girl… I'm her Daughter."

The Daffodil, obviously distempered and stubborn snorted and replied.

"Excuse me, Wonderland?... What a stupid child... You're absolutely hideous! And besides Alice has no children… Especially not a horrid little girl"

To this Alice took great offence, all her life she'd thought of herself as a fair, beautiful girl.

"Well, It's true! And if you don't believe me… I'll give you proof! Before bed she'd tell me all of her adventures here! The short, large boys who always bicker! The large…. Band… Bandercatch and how she slay the Jackerwocky!"

The Daffodil snickered mockingly at Alice, and at that the other flowers joined in.

"Don't you mean The Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky? And besides, that's harldy ay proof, anyone in all of Underland could tell you of The Frabjous Day. What real proof do you have?"

Alice's cheeks became a rosy red and she began to wish she were her normal size, so as to smash all the horrible flowers to the ground.

"Oh Enough!" A dust covered, hardly White Rabbit came in from the tall grass, being awoken from all the ruckus.

"Leave the girl alone you vultures!"

The flowers turned up snide faces, but ceased their teasing, seeming to have respect for the White Rabbit.

"Now what's all this about?" He said, his voice calmed and quiet.

"Sir… Mr. Rabbit, I don't know how I've gotten myself here and I'm quite confused… I wish you could help me."

"And with what would you need my services, dear girl?"

"Well… I'm not exactly sure… You see… well, I mean… I don't know really" She admitted exhaustingly confused.

"The girl claims to be the Child of Alice." The Daffodil blurted out, behind her the flowers started in chorus again, mocking Alice.

"And that I am!"

The White Rabbit stopped in disbelief.

"Oh but, how?... Could it really be" He hopped around her in a circle, examining her.

"It feels I've only been asleep for a moment, how could…" He scratched his head.

"It is the honest truth. My mother is Alice Kingsley, my father Hamish Ascot and I'm Alice Anne Ascot, to be 18 in three days. For my 18th birthday my mother promises me a special gift… and how is she to give me a gift if she isn't really my mother?"

"Alice has married?"

"Well, not exactly" Alice Anne admitted

The White Rabbit was thoroughly perplex and finally decided how to handle the situation.

"Come with me…" And began hopping away.

"Where are you taking her?" Asked a curious petunia.

"To see The Hatter!"


	3. The grandeur of Muchness

With not hardly a breath escaping his lips he sat as still as an old forgotten temple, save his ever darting eyes and mind full of ever hazing thoughts.

"Well, what now? The Frabjous day has come and gone… Alice has left off for another adventure somewhere far away… But what of me?"

Tiny molecules of dust danced about his breath. It was the only sign of life in this grey, tired man stuck in arrested development.

"Maybe I'll host a tea party"

Shifting his eyes up at the table he almost heard the silent laughter escaping from teapots, saucers, and cups. Even the nasty tea with an iridescent film of grime and time from inside the pots seemed to mock him,

_Silly, old, broken Hatter. Our time has passed as has yours. No time for Tea these days, just sit kindly in your open grave and rot._

They all seemed to sing in chorus, penetrating his mind and for the twelfth time that day, causing his to questioned his reality, even in 'Wonderland'. His body remained still, but his mind very alive and chiding away at his old, broken tea set.

"What a preposterous thought! Of course there's no time! No time at all! There has never been any time since I was convicted of murdering it! I have always been here, with no time for anything but for Tea! And so we've always had tea! Only tea!" He thought pensively for a moment.

"I've not had the luxury of time in quite sometime, in fact… Only Tea… Some Earl Grey might suit me."

But fight as he might the ceaseless non-existent banter over-powered him until he had givin up the pretense of having any control over his own thoughts at all and assumed a blank stare as they sang out in his mind.

_No Tea! No Tea! We'll toss it to the Sea! No Tea! No Tea!_

This went on for sometime, growing louder and louder in his fragile mind until it was interrupted by a_SNAP_ing sound off in the distance.

Upon hearing it The Hatter shot up, a cloud of dust followed. He placed a finger to his lips and loudly "_SHUSH_"ed the Tea Set, which immediately ceased singing.

"Have you heard that?" he asked out to particularly no one, suddenly realizing his Tea Set seemed to rather void of life.

Another snap of a twig, followed by tiny foot prints and the sound of a hopping Hare.

"Thackery?" He thought, curling his eyebrows in question.

After several angst filled seconds The White Rabbit came hopping out of the bushes, The Hatters lips formed into a rather twisted smile and he clasped his hands together, not noticing the worried look on the rabbits own face.

"To what do I owe the…"

Behind the rabbit one set of milky white legs followed, attached to a rather small blonde, glowing girl.

Hatters face dropped, his hands floated in thick air, breath stopped and an awful weight of ten thousand pounds added in the core of his chest.

"Oh, my… Could it be?" He uttered ever so quietly.

The White Rabbit cleared his throat;

"Hatter, lovely to see you… I've come with a question to as.."

The Hatter shot up, another billowing cloud of dust emerged, choking the air. His footsteps sent small tremors through the ground until he stood in front of the girl. He squatted down, peering eerily at her. At first a cool green, The Hatters eye's quickly transformed into a fierce Amber color, his face grew quite still with nothing but a Grimace. Alice began to feel a strange growing concern for her safety in her stomach.

"Blasphemy…" He uttered in a deep Scottish brogue.

"Excuse me?" The White Rabbit asked confused, Alice began to slink behind the Rabbit.

"Bothersome, beleaguer, bastardy…"

"Rabbit…" Alice said clutching his furs tightly.

"This… Hatter, is Alice Anne Ascot.." Stuttered McTwist a little at unease himself.

Just as the situation's tension reached it's peak, The Hatters face relaxed as if he had forgotten he had ever been disturbed, He stood tall and adjusted his top Hat, eyes again a clear green.

"What an odd name, Ascot … Tell me, have you ever consi..""She claims to be The Champions Daughter.."Again his breath grew short, but his lisp still remain.

"Our Alice ? Preposterous. That must be the wrong Alice 's Daughter, did you ask her? Are you the Wrong Alice's Daughter?" He asked, directing the question to Alice Anne.

"Well, I think Sir.. That I may be" He cut her off.

"Our Dear Alice has been gone mere' minutes and is oh so young… Adventuring, I think to far off places, no time for Courtships… No time… None at all…" His words floated out of his mouth, shaking and disturbed.

"To China , yes she did go! In the Poppy trade... She's also been to France , Italy , Spain and the America 's. I know because I sometimes a company her…"

Almost ignoring her The Hatter walked over to a chipped old Tea Pot and poured three cups of murky English Morning Tea.

"Please sit, join me. I have been trying to organize another tea party…"

"Hatter… you must listen. I know it's only seems a small time has passed but I believe differently… I've seen some disturbing things along this way, Underland seems to be...sleeping... Almost lifeless. What more, I believe this girl here might hold some answers."

"Sleeping? Oh but McTwisp, I haven't slept a wink in years, you must be mistaken."

"Hatter... don't be so in denial..." McTwisp almost sighed out the last few words.

Triggered again and turning violently around, The Hatter returned to his fiery eyes and deep brogue.

"Blasphemous! Bothersome! Beleaguer! Bastardy!" He shouted, shirking his hands and dropping the Tea, sending a pitiful rain onto the heads of The Rabbit and Alice, who were far to cautious to react.

"Lies and contempt! Such nonsense is...Is Irrational! Mad!... Impossible…" His voice calmed but still retained its heavy melancholy tone.

"...I sometimes believe in six impossible thing's before breakfast…" He uttered lost in a nostalgic trance.

"You've heard that from my mother before, yes? Oh, she hasn't said that in years" Alice reflected as well, again mourning the obvious angst in her mothers adventurous andmagical yet unfulfilled life.

"Oh, my…" He said again, easing himself into a dusty old seat.

"Dear, dear." He continued in the same matter.

"Hatter? Hatter, what do you think of it?"

Moments passed in awkward silence before he leaned forward the picked the girl up, a little whimper of protest in her voice. He was back to his spontaneous Scottish brogue.

"Little Devil, you." A crooked smile slowly crawled upon his face.

"She's been married, then?" A very shaken Hatter asked.

"No Sir… I was born a love child, of a very _loveless_ affair… On her part…" Alice Anne explained.

"My mother still has no Husband…""And your father?" Asked the Rabbit, equally as curious.

"Lord Hamish Ascot… He only dreams of it."

Eyes of a dull Amber stared deeply at her, The Hatters face burning with confused emotions.

The Hatter wrapped both hands around the girls tiny waist and lifted her to eye's sight, pupils slowly brightening with furry, grip slowly tightening, and for a second he considered squeezing the girl until she popped, but upon thinking of his good queen and her vows, and also, a sort of understanding in the tantalizing look of fission in the girls face.

He plopped her on the floor.

"A thousand great adventures and a thousand broken hearts, I'm sure. Alice was never home bound…" The Hatters lisp returned and his eyes a pale green. He returned himself to his tea, always getting ready to, but never actually taking a sip.

"So what of her now?" The Rabbit asked The Hatter.

"_What_ of _who_?" He asked blatantly giving no satisfaction.

"The young miss Alice"The name made him cringe, it was the same cringe Alice Anne had seen from her Grandmother take upon the mention of her name.

"Take her, Leave her, Throw her, Be her…. Tis no concern of mine…"

The Rabbit sighed slowly.

"I was hoping her to see the White Queen…""Take her then…""The travel would be _much_ quicker with you… Since I've no more Uplekuchen…"

"Yes, _much_..." Alice said, taking notice her small size in stature, and while she didn't particularly know why she should see The White Queen, it seemed (Based off of her mother's stories) To be the most logical then to do. She then began wondering if the fact she had agreed that The Hatter should take her made her just as Mad as he. She also noticed him to be a degree crueler that her mother had spoken of.

"Much…" The Hatter added, memories of a young beauty and her Muchness revisited his mind. He peered down at the small girl, she seemed so to be the same. Tenacious, wild blooded, and very possibly full of Muchness.

It pained him to think of Alice bearing another man's child but also noticed it was no fault on the young girl either..

"I suppose It would be... _much..._ quicker" His lips fashioned to accented the word 'much'."So you'll do it, then?" McTwisp asked hopefully.

He one last time considered things before answering blankly.

"This party could wait until one last venture I suppose… "


	4. Much of a Muchness

I know it been a week or so but the next Chapter is finally out! Oh and did I mention how very much I love messages and reviews? So leave them if you please! Thanks!

The Hatter stared daftly into the distance for a long moment leaving the White Rabbit and Alice curiously waiting awaiting his response, this silence remained until he was startled by the rather unpleasant taste of his first sip of tea.

"Well, I do say a plan should be formulated."

"Yes, What asplendid idea" The Rabbit commented hopefully.

"First I feel we should awake the brigade, if they are truly lost in slumber. Think of it!all of Underlands inhabitants lazily napping, a horendous thoughtdon't you agree?" The Hatter answered without waiting for a reply.

"Of course you do! McTwisp! And further more Ide beleivethat thisis a job worthy of yourself, don't you?"

Again he awaited no protest, which there rightfully would have been concerning The Rabbit worries ofAlice's safety upon being left alone with The Hatter.

"Splendid! Then you must leave at once!"

The Rabbit said nothing, but instead looked about hastily almost as if he was looking for an escape andcaught Alice in his peripheral vision, Hesympathized withthe unsteady look she had upon her face.

"Does ther be a problem?" The Hatter abrubtly asked the reluctant Rabbit.

The White Rabbit stammered out, finally, after deciding that questioning the Mad Man might be a drip more dangerous than leaving him be with Alice;

"Not in the slightest, Tarrant…" And with that hebegan to hop off, looking periodically over his shoulder to see a painstakingly frightened Alice ever so slightly reaching out to him with a delicate hand.

When the Rabbit was all but gone and the only remains of his presence were the dulling pitter patter of his feet in the distance, The Hatter turned to Alice, his face stern and hard to read. The moment grew more and more tense, and Alicepondered what his might move be and upon realizing he might soon have another fit, decided shemight tryto smooth him over.

"You know my mother is quite the Story teller?"

His eyebrow raised slightly and with the most sarcastic of tones did he utter;

"Oh, you don't mean, My Alice? Do say?"

Alice Anne cleared her throat and began again, ignoring the previous remark.

"Yes, quite the story teller. She's told me tales of a White Rabbit before, and of two fat twins by the names Of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (She had barely noticed yet, but her memory of Wonderland seemed to sharpen the longer she visited) Of the Jabberwocky and the Bandersnatch… and of a man... a Hatter of sort's that seemed to be very dear to her…"

She paused only for a momentto seea soft, sorrowful cringe sweep across The Hatters face, the idea of his dear Alice soothing her child with stories of him melted his heart in a bittersweet sort of way,

"And sometimes, when it's dreadfully boring at my Nanna's estate, I write story's of such a place, and such characters.."

The Hatterwas distracted from his longing, intrigued by the thought of himself in one of herstory tales;

"And do tell me of one of these stories."

Alice almost began before she remembered they'd a task to do;

"I'll make you a bargain, Hatter. I'll tell you story after story on the way to the White Queens Castle!"

He thought deeply for a moment before plucking her up and placing her on top one dusty shoulder.

"I do love to be entertained while I travel."

And so it began, Alice professed one colorful tale after another;  
"in this story The Hatter's Hat is stolen by the Tricky a Cat who's name escapes me..." "in that story the Dormouse's been eaten,and longs to be set free!""And another of the Bloody Red queen who's eaten entirely to many tarts and finds, though, bloated and full, shecannot seem to…"

"My, my what a wonderful talent you've got! A whole library I'm sure!" The Hatter praised the girl quiet honestly.

"Yes, well. I haven't written stories of Wonderland in quite a long while" Alice admitted, a bit regretably.

"Oh, Well, Never the bother!" The Hatter nodded;

"I'm sure you'll pick the hobby again one day." A Pensive look took his face for but a moment;

"In fact! Why don't you begin to ponder such prose now! A new tale of Underland with Hatter as the availing hero!"

Alice thought about the idea andthenremmbered whyshe'd stopped writing of wonderland to begin with and beganto explain herselfwispily as she gazed on to a strange forest that seemed to slowly retain its color;

"Well, I haven't quit my prose all together. I still write of things, just not so much of Wonderland."

His nose twitched in a giddy little way at the way she referred to it as wonderland, like a girl who he once loved called it.

"What sorts of things? And why _not_ 'Wonderland?"

"WellI write of things that make me feel the way Wonderland _used _to make me feel...Wonderland seems to be just, such a _silly_ childish dream now, much of a muchness, if you may..."  
"Now I write of _real_ things, like being madly in love with a Frenchman in Paris… or of wildly lively parties. You know? Tangible things. Things that are one of a kind, and not much of a muchness..."

The Hatters breath grew short, and he halted immediately. Unfortunately Alice did notnotice. What Alice also didn't know was that The Hatter had once before taken on the role of a figment of someone's imagination, inside what someone thought was a dream, and since he had grown quite sour to the idea as being taken as a silly dream orany sort of common delusion and by now his eyes were a-blaze, and if you could get a word out beneath his dragon breath it'd be in a deep Scottish brogue. It was only when the hot breath was upon her did she notice the flame she'd started.

"Oh, Dear…" She said in a hushed voice.

"Dare I say I said something to offend you?" Try as she might to remain calm and cordial, her voice shook an her hand's trembled.

"Nea Lass, ye cannae offend a thing that dinnae exist…"

"Oh… but I didn't mean to…"

A feeling like being smashed against the a wall tremored through her frail little body and before she knew it, she crashed to the ground.

"What do ye know of _muchness,_ wee li'l bajin?"

She waited a good full minute or two to open her eyes after his breathing had seemed to calm and upon doing so and scaned her surroundings for his hot Scottish fury, She surprisingly found not a thing but silent sleeping tree's in silent sleeping slumber. Now, although she was frightfully afraid of The Hatter at the time, she was also frightfully afraid of being lost and began to call out his name;

"Hatter?" but to no avail.

After whatseemed like an eternity of ceasless calling Alicedecided her odds were better if she kept walking, rather than if she kept still, although walking or not she felt quite hopeless.

During her walk she attempted to bring herself to the brighter side of thingsandriminded herselfabout how she'd liked strolls in the past, but then sinking into uncertainly, noted how this was more a pilgrimage than a stroll.  
She then ponited outhow without The Hatter around, there was nobody to bat her around but then realized she'd loveed his audience to her stories.

Mile, after mile, after mile (Which was liable to be, all and all an acre at best considering her size) Did she plop on herthe forest floorand curse herself saying;

"Why! Walking without The Hatter is as dreadful as walking by myself!" And upon speculating how mad she must have gone did she hear a voice.

"That is exactly the sort of logic I like to hear"

She looked up to see not a thing but the treesand then crossed her arms feeling rather confused and pitifull;

"I will not, no matter how lost or madi've gotten,believe in talking tree's!" She scoffed.

"And who, may I ask, asked you to?" The voice hauntingly asked, she silently searched the landscpae with her eyes when suddenly aface of a cat with a wild smile slowly began to form in front of her. Startled, she gasped.

"Oh! Who are you?"

The reply was nothing but a yawn and;

"I am just awaken from a very long nap, apparently. Now tell me, are you who they say you are?"

She thought the question over before answering;

"Well, I guess that all depends who you've heard from. If you've heard from the garden patch I'm a liar, and The White Rabbit believes I'm somebody to do with something and The Hatter… The Hatter, well, he must believe I'm a fly because he's taken to swatting me like one…. But in all truth I'm Alice!"

"How interesting and are you quite certain of that?" The cat said, his face unwavering.

"Yes and I'm also terribly lost at the moment…" She searched around for a trail of some sort.

"Do you think you might be able to take me to the White Queens Castle?"

The Cat (Now full in his form, and floating about, looking rather like he was interested in his claws) replied;

"Oh that's so far… But I suppose I can take you to The Hatter, but no further I can't be bo.."

He was cut off by a groaning Alice, incredibly put out by how this placewas sononsensicle.

"Oh, not The Hatter!" Almost instantly there was silence and The Cat seemed to have dissapeared.

"Oh! The most bothersome characters about here!" She blurted out.

"Oh, and by the way. Your mother used to call me 'The Cheshire Cat'" was the last fading call of The Chesire Cat.

"The Cheshire Cat... of course" Alice speculated, realizing that the lovable characters described to her in her mothers stories were quite far from the turth.

A noiselike footsteps sounded in the distance, disrupting her thoughts.

"Hello? Mr. Cheshire Cat?" Momentarily forgeting The Ceshire's prefrence for floating.

Emerging from the bushes was indeedno Cheshire cat, but a tall, slender, rather Mad, Hatter.

"I see you've made almost no progress. Typical for a girl so small, tell me Alice, why do you insist on such a preposterous size?"

"Well, I hardly insist..." She said noticing his tantrum had passed.

"Yes well, shall we continue along?"  
And with that he picked her up and placed her on his shoulder again.

She thought to protest but decided against it,realizing that aside from that travel with The Hatter was much quicker, and besides the fact that she didn't overly enjoy his company, that he seemed to bethebiggest sorce of help in this topsy turvy place.

After a moment of consideration she spoke;

"Hatter?" She asked.

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Emiting the fact that you swated me like a fly, and that you are a terribly sensitive man, I realize what I said was troubling for you and well... I mean... Well, I'm dreadfully sorry for upsetting you before…" His silence led her to expect a heart felt acceptance of sorts or of another outburst, but instead he replied;

"What? Upsetting what now?" she sighed and almost giggled.

Almost at once the White Castle appeared on the horizon and after a moment of rejoicing Alice realized (although she didn't know how or why) that this... place... would never had let her find the castle until she'd reconciled with The Hatter... What a Mad sort of man.

Next Chapter: To the open door.


End file.
